There seem to have been rather a lot of earthquakes recently—a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Eastern Indonesia, a 7.4 magnitude one in Colombia, and a 7.1 magnitude shake in Japan.
In each of these cases we were told where the ‘epicentre’ of the quake was.
And, upon thinking about this, I decided that ‘epicentre’ is an odd word.
Why ‘epicentre’?
Why not just ‘centre’?
Back in 2004 when a massive 9.1 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia causing a devastating tsunami, we were told that the ‘epicentre’ was off the west coast of Aceh, in northern Sumatra.
But why not just tell us that the ‘centre’ of the quake was there?
Why ‘epicentre’?
The word appears to have been coined in the world of seismology (of course!) and its first appearance in print was in a journal called the Geological Record in 1877.
It means, ‘The point on the earth's surface that overlies the subterranean focus of an earthquake’ (Oxford).
In other words, the actual shifting of the tectonic plates (that is, the earthquake itself) happens at some distance underground.
Sometimes, a considerable distance underground.
In the recent Japanese and Indonesian earthquakes were said to have happened about ten kilometres below the surface of the earth.
And that is where the little prefix ‘epi’ comes in.
It is not underground—it is the point on the surface of the earth immediately above where all that shaking and quaking happened.
‘Epi’ can be found in classical Latin, and before that in ancient Greek, with a range of directional (prepositional) meanings: upon, to or towards, against, over, beyond, with, after, above.
In the case of earthquakes, the ‘epicentre’ is above the centre of the shaking.
Tonight I will join John Stanley for 'The Word Clinic' on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC, 2LT and the Tapt Radio Network -- right after the 10pm news.
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